Mini Math Lesson
For use with the May/June 2010 issue, pages 6–7.
Tree Diagrams
To find out the total number of outfits you could make with different
pieces of clothing, you could make a list of every combination. But
that can get confusing and take a long time. One easier way is to
make a tree diagram. Let’s say Keke has two skirts and three tops.
Here’s the tree diagram you would draw:
Skirts
Tops
Possible Outfits
Denim
Blue stripe
Red dots
Sparkly silver
Lime green
Red dots
Sparkly silver
Lime green
(1) Denim skirt, red-dots top
(2) Denim skirt, sparkly-silver top
(3) Denim skirt, lime-green top
(4) Blue-stripe skirt, red-dots top
(5) Blue-stripe skirt, sparkly-silver top
(6) Blue-stripe skirt, lime-green top
So, there are 6 different outfits Keke could make from those clothes.
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